Portrait of Anthony Wayne 



BY 

CHARLES HENRY HART 



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Printed by 
J. B. LIPP1NCOTT COMPANY 



ANTHONY WAYNE 

ADDRESS 

AT THE PRESENTATION OF 

HIS PORTRAIT 

TO 

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA 

ON BEHALF OF 

MRS. JOSEPH W. DREXEL 

MAY 9, 1910 



BY 

CHARLES HENRY HART 



PHILADELPHIA 
1911 






Fifty Copies Reprinted from "The Pennsylvania Magazine op 
History and Biography" for July, 191 1 













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PORTRAIT OF ANTHONY WAYNE 



BY CHARLES HENRY HART. 



At the annual meeting of the Historical Society ot 
Pennsylvania, held in its Hall on the evening of May 9, 
1910, the President, Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, 
read the following letter from Charles Henry Hart, Esq. : — 

Philadelphia, May 4, 1910. 
Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, 

President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

My Dear Governor : — 

It is with great pleasure that I am the medium for pre- 
senting to the society, on behalf of Mrs. Joseph W. Drexel, 
the important and valuable original portrait of General 
Anthony Wayne, painted from life, in 1796, by Henry Elouis. 
I learned that this portrait was in "Washington, D. C, and 
knowing how desirable it would be for the collection of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, brought it to the atten- 
tion ot Mrs. Drexel, who, in the most generous and charm, 
ing manner, secured the portrait to hang upon your walls. 

(1) 



rait <>f Anthony M a 

rill make a formal presentation of the 
portrail nt your annual meeting on May 9th. I am, with 
distinguished consideration, my dear Governor, 

Faithfully, 
in irles IIi:m:-i Bart. 



The President t ln-n introduced Mr. Hart, who said: 

It is my high i'ii\ ilege and distinguished honor to pr< 
10 you mi behalf of Mrs. Joseph W. Drezel, a lineal de- 
scendant, in the third generation, from Thomas Whai 
the firsl Governor of the state- of Pennsylvania, and a lady 
nf keen historical instincts and an intelligent love of art, as 
rare as it ie g 1, which arc plainly evidenced by her gra- 
cious gifl to-night, an original portrait, painted from lii 

ral A 1 1 1 ] 1 1 1 1 1 _\- Wayne, the most illustrious soldier Penn- 
sylvania I 'i to the nation, and by leading authority 
considered the mosl eminenl general of the Revolutionary 
War. This portrail was painted in the year that Wayne 
died, by Henry Blows, a French emigre, and it- i 
w as uuknow n to historical students until recently disi o\ 
by me in Washington, D.C. Winn I firsl Baw this canvas 
it was in a deplorable condition, having been can ■ 
painted over until the original was almost lost to view, but 
all tliis foreign matter lias been skillfully removed and the 
portrait restored to its original state, until now we have the 
most characteristic and interesting portrait of Anthony 
Wayne that exists. The type of race : illy Bimilar to 
the portraits of Wayue painted by Charles Willson Peale, 
in the State House at Philadelphia, and by Edward Ba _ 
in the New York Hist rical Society. But Peal< and S 
agi how in their portraits Wayne's obesity as predominant, 
while the more artistic and deep seeing Frenchman has 
preserved the strong and clear cul features thai speak i 
mandingly for the man of force and action that we know 
Wayne to have b 



Portrait of Anthony Wa\ 3 

These three portraits of Wayne, by Elouis, Peale and Sav. 
age, differ wholly and entirely from the commonly familiar 
profile picture of him, in a cocked hat, called " the Trum 
bull portrait of Wayne." But the authenticity of this last 
named picture, as a portrait from life, is exceedingly doubt- 
ful. The original is at best a small miniature, about one 
inch in height, in a crowded group of American officers, in 
the painting by Trumbull, of the Surrender of Cornwallis, 
in the Yale Gallery of the Fine Arts, at New Haven, Conn. ; 
and consequently all the engravings and life size paintings 
of Wayne, of this type, are merely enlarged copies of this 
supposed portrait, vampered up to suit the taste of the copy- 
ist, whether painter or engraver, and are, therefore, only 
ideal heads. It is well to bear in mind in considering this 
question, that there is no other and separate painting or 
drawing known by Trumbull, of Wayne; that the so-called 
Trumbull portrait of Wayne is found only in the grouped 
historical composition mentioned. 

The identification of the authorship of the present portrait 
is most interesting. What may be called the scarcest en- 
graved American historical portrait is a large mezzotint, 
(17.14 x 13.13) by George Graham, that was published in 
Philadelphia, June 1, 1796, by Freeman & Co. It is of 
Anthony Wayne after this painting by Henry Elouis. Of 
the only two known impressions of this print, one is in the 
collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and be- 
fore us to-night. In it Wayne is represented, as you will 
see, at three-quarter length, standing, in full uniform, with 
the order of the Cincinnati on the lapel of his coat. His 
right hand rests upon a parchment, marked " TREATY," 
on a table, while in his left hand he holds his sword at his 
side. Above the table is what appears to be a window or 
base, with column and curtain, upon which is a garlanded 
Indian pipe-of-peace. The canvas must have been painted 
between Wayne's coming to the East from his Indian cam- 
paign, in February, 1796, and his return to the North-west, 
in June of the same year, to take possession, for the United 



4 Portrait <>f Anthony II' • 

Government, of the posts al Detroit, Niagara and 
Preeque LbIo, from which lie never returned, dying al Erie, 
l';i.. <>ii December I-".. 1 T '. * « *► . According to a certificate 
written by Oolonel J. J. Abert, U.S.A., dated March, I 
which is affixed to the back of the canvas, tliis portrait 
painted for Major Caleb Swan. who was appointed Paj 
ter-General <>t' tin- United States army a month later than 
Wayne was commissioned Commander-in-Chief, and who 
was very closely attached to Wayne. Major Bwan died 
Nov. 20, 1809, leaving a widow, who was <'"l"t.<-] Ab 
eldest sister, and one daughter. The widow Swan married 
W. W. P. Bryan of Philadelphia and the daughter became 
the wife of < i >■• 'Ilti- Allan Magruder, I'.s.X.. when the por- 
trail of Wayne was given to Colonel Abert, he having firs! 
■ in L808, ;ii his brother-in-law's house in Washington, 
when Beeking appointment as cadet to the U.S. Military 
Academy at W.-i Point Colonel Aberl died in 1868, and 
the portrait passed to his Bon Mr. Charles Abert, who died 
1897, and it was sold in the settlement ol his estate. As 
stated in the certificate, Colonel Abert did not recoiled the 
name of the artist who painted the portrait, only that hi 
"celebrated ": and we learn who the artist was by his nam.' 
upon the engraving, by Graham, before us. 

Jean Pierre Henri Elouis or, as he called himself in this 
country, Henry Elouis, was born in Caen, France, January 
'20, 17">">. and died their December 23, 1840. He was des- 
tined for medicine but he sought art and Btudied under the 
French painter .Ivan Barnard Restout, going to London in 
1783, where three years later be won the Royal Academy 
silver medal for drawing of the human figure. He exhibited 
at the Royal Academy in IT-.''. L786 and 17-7 and at the 
aning of the French Revolution emigrated to America, 
settling in Maryland, where Charles Willson Peale met him 
in 1791, al Annapolis, and, calling him " Mr Loise," men- 
tions that "he paints in a new stile," querying -harply. •• it" 
this gentleman so cried up will do better than Mr. Pine 



Portrait of Anthony Wayne. 5 

whose reputation was equally cried up." ' In 1792 Elouis 
removed to Philadelphia and his name appears in the Di- 
rectories for 1793, "limner 201 Mulbery;" for 1794, "por- 
trait painter 106 No. Front;" and for 1799, "miniatures 1 
So third." While in Philadelphia he gave instruction in 
drawing to Eleanor Custis and painted miniatures of Wash- 
ington and of Mrs. Washington. Unfortunately his minia- 
ture of Washington is unknown to us, but a beautiful ivory 
of Mrs. Washington, by Elouis, is in the unique collection 
of miniatures belonging to Mrs. Drexel, your benefactor. 
In this connection the following letter from Elouis to Wash- 
ington, preserved in the Library of Congress (Vol. 79, No. 
101), is of particular interest. It is written from " No. 9, 8th 
Street at the Wax Works." 

"Philadelphia July 20, 1793. 

" Perhaps, Sir, you do not recollect my name ? I teach 
drawing to Miss Custis. I have been recommended by Mrs. 
Stuart and I have had the honour last winter to take your 
likeness in miniatur. It is not entirely finished having been 
much disturbed and wishing to make a well finished picture 
I shall wait till my mind is in a more quiet situation. 

" P. S. If you are pleased to favor my petition (for $80), 
I shall cease from that instant to receive the two guineas 
per month that I receive for the lessons I give Miss Custis." 

The answer to this application is found, under the same 
date as the letter, in Washington's Household Account- 
book, belonging to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : 
" Sent to Mr. Elouis by the President's order as a loan in 
consequence of application 



Filled with a spirit for adventure, Elouis travelled over 
the United States, Mexico and South America, making 
many explorations with Humboldt, and in 1807 returned 



1 Wharton's Heirlooms in Miniatures, p. 100. 



'ranee, leaving behind him a great many pid 
"particularly ai Havana and Philadelphia where be re- 
mained the longest. At Philadelphia particularly, he 
painted many of the illustrious persons of the Revolution, 
among others the celebrated Washington." 1 In l s ll he 
was made ( lurator of the Museum of his Dative town, which 
office be held until hi* death, at the age of eighty-i 
term of nearly thirty years. Bis portraits were Doted for 
their simplicity and directness, qualities very apparenl in 
the portrait of Wayne. Doubtless the "new Stile" that 
aeems to have ruffled the equanimity of Peale was Elouis's 
realistic boldness and rug of manner which was in 

Btrong contrast with Peale's Bomewhat mechanical Bmooth- 

in painting. 
The portrait of Anthony Wayne, by Elouis, is unquestion- 
ably an original portrait painted l'min lite, as it jMisssesses 
every quality and requirement of a life portrait As will 

en, it is of life size, in full uniform, but whether it has 
been cut down from a larger canvas showing the figure and 
detail- given in the engraving or whether the engraving is 

an elaborate i the busl portrait by the engraver, a not 

uncommon practice in making plates, we do not know, hut, 
from it.- unusual si.' . 20 \ 25 inches, I am inclined to think 
the former, particularly as the background, in the lower left 
corner, shows some detail meaningless in a bust portrait 
but which would be a part of the background of the li 
painting. However this may lie there can be ii<> doubt but 
thai the head and hust in the engraving are from this iden- 
tical portrait and it can be accepted as the finest delineation 
of the captor <>t Stony Point and vicl alien Timbers 

that exist I i notable difference betvi painting 

and the engraving will be observed. That is the abe 
of the order .it' the Cincinnati from the painting. A simi- 

"Noi 

'•I ii. Mancel. I 



Portrait of Anthony Wayne. 7 

lar difference will be noticed in Savage's painted and en- 
graved portraits of "Washington and of Wayne as also in 
the portraits of some other Revolutionary characters. In 
the permanent painted portraits the order is omitted, while 
in the more ephemeral engravings it has been introduced. 
I will leave the solution ot this problem to others, and the 
portrait ot Wayne to you. 

At the conclusion of the presentation the following reso- 
lution was unanimously adopted: 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania be extended to Mrs. Joseph W. Drexel tor 
her important and valuable gift of an original portrait of 
Major General Anthony Wayne painted from life, in 1796, 
by Henry Elouis, and that in appreciation of said gift the 
Council of the Society be recommended to elect Mrs. Drexel 
an Honorary Member ot the Society. 

Subsequently Mrs. Drexel was elected an Honorary 
Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by the 
Council. 




